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"Are you a pure American knight? Why are you so retro? It's just a mechanical bug that may not even have self-awareness. Can't you just step on it to death?"
"No, Black Tower. In the settlement behind him there are humans who were protected by him and that little girl. Even if I have to destroy him, I have to do it in a more honorable way."
Sora's tone returned to calm.
"This is for our common reputation, both that of the Nameless Guest and the Genius Club—"
217. Help me, Miss Clara!
The reason why Sora calmed down was not only because of Clara's helpless and willing reaction when Swarov was taken away, but also because of the outlines of the heat sources that appeared on Gustav's monitor.
It was not the outline of a mechanical soldier, but a human one. On the other side of the passage, many humans were watching this sudden confrontation. They were all miners gathered and protected by Clara.
Looking from above, the clusters of pointed tents at one end of the pass showed that these people's living conditions were not good. They didn't even have a fixed residence in Rock Town. The fact that Swarovski and Clara were able to support such a large group of poor people, whether out of the concept of protection or simple kindness, was enough to make Kong respect them.
His reputation had to be upheld, but towards enemies that didn't necessarily need to be defeated, opponents with noble ideals, Sora was happy to show his magnanimity.
"You and I will fight one-on-one. If I win, you must apologize to me in public and open the road to the furnace ahead so that residents can travel freely—"
Sora controlled the MS and pointed at Swarlow.
…This is a meaningless act.
Swarlow quickly came to a conclusion.
But the actions of this legion member did not conform to his past understanding. The legion has never had a tradition of one-on-one combat - because group combat can maximize the advantages of the bodies designed for them by their masters. Without division of labor, even the powerful Doomsday Beast will find it difficult to break through some near-ground defense obstacles.
In the past, once the word "group" was involved in the calculation, it would constantly collect various records of old opponents to compare with the current scattered situation of the lower class... If there was a object for it to transmit conclusions to, it would use the internal "unity" of each legion to criticize the lower-level residents.
But now... this guy across from me seems to have gathered the main forces from both the upper and lower levels to support him and his group of so-called nameless guests, thus achieving "unity" in a sense.
The machine's absolutely rational thinking mode, after witnessing the opposite Iron Guards and civilians glaring at it, briefly produced a leap-like conclusion. Just like when protecting Clara, Swarlow's electronic brain produced something called "bioelectricity".
Facilitating the reconnection and unity between the upper and lower levels will have an additional 3% chance of survival... worth a try.
"...Psychic signal?"
Kong looked at Swarovski with some confusion. An irrational signal just popped out like an illusion. Although it was fleeting, he was sure that it was a manifestation of self-awareness.
It’s not an advanced artificial intelligence… This Svaro is probably a silicon-based life form, although it’s not complete yet, and it itself is not aware of its own evolution.
"I understand your intention. In a one-on-one duel, I will have a 17% chance of winning, which is much higher than the 1.4% in a group fight. In conclusion, I agree to fight you in a one-on-one duel."
The red light in Swarovski's eyes faded a lot:
"If you fail, I will destroy you, or imprison you to ensure the preservation process continues."
"What kind of conditions are these?! Sora wants to defend his honor as the prerequisite for the duel, and you plan to not only kill him but also capture him?"
March is far more angry than the sky at this moment.
She had also been subjected to a lot of slander and misunderstanding during her journey, but the level of suspicion was far less than what Sora had endured, and Swarovski's remarks further stimulated those who praised Sora for his willingness to reduce casualties.
Bronya's face darkened, and she almost pointed the gun directly at Swarovski, but she couldn't, because if she showed too much hostility, her subordinates would interpret it as preparation for attack.
But Eula held their shoulders from behind, shaking her head as they looked back in doubt: "A knight's duel is an act of self-sacrifice in order to seek justice. In Fontaine, there are also suspects who fight to clear their names. They will die in battle to prove their innocence."
The calmer her tone, the more it strengthened the tall image of Gustav in everyone's mind.
"The commander also had the experience of dueling with a senior official of the Inland Command in the port area... He said that compared with proving his innocence in the Atonement Expedition, this was nothing."
Befa calmly affirmed Eula's words.
But it sounded as if she was deliberately competing with Eula to see who knew Sora better, and the tense and indignant atmosphere suddenly shifted to the question of "who Sora knew more about".
...Although Kong was clamoring for a one-on-one fight, the double-minded train crew and the Earth Fires subconsciously ignored the fact that Kong was sitting on a mecha, almost eight times taller than Swarovski, and looked like he could crush him with one kick.
In their hearts, they had all thought of an excuse for Sora - you, Swarovski, are a robot, and we are robots too, it's fair.
"He doesn't seem as alert as before... weird."
Only Dan Heng didn't care about those little anecdotes, and narrowed his eyes to stare at Swarlow's movements.
"Withdraw your mechas, Swarovski. The mecha settlement has already suffered heavy losses. This has nothing to do with our personal grudges. For the sake of your ideals, I don't want to hurt them by mistake. Bronya, Leader Natasha, please take your men away as well—"
"..."
Upon hearing this, Swarovski's eyes flickered, as if he was surprised that Yu Kong, the executioner who almost killed half of the mechas, would actually care about preserving the number of mechas.
Without any gestures, the mechas rolled back, leaving a clear corridor for the two "men".
"Everyone - retreat to the bunker!"
Following Kong's reminder, both the humans on Swarovski's side and those watching here retreated back into the settlement.
"I allow you to attack first, Swarovski. There is no need to find a referee. It's up to you to make the first move."
At this moment, Kong expressed the word "pride" very vividly, but it made people feel that he was not disgusted at all - this was the confidence that Gustav brought him, and also the pride in his own driving skills.
Everyone recognized his pride, and his confidence that "gentlemen on the opposite side, please shoot first."
"Um, Kong, can you please be a little more...slow when you do it later?"
But in this atmosphere where both sides could draw their guns at any time, and where a war would be imminent as in a western cowboy movie with just a tumbleweed blowing by, a weak groan was heard from the cockpit at an inopportune time.
It also made Kong, who was concentrating on paying attention to Swarovski, turn his head away, finding it a little funny.
"I almost vomited after pulling the joystick twice just now... You don't want me to make a rainbow for you in the cockpit, do you?"
Paimon had a hint of fear and dizziness in his eyes and trembled as he pressed against the back of his head.
Just now, when Kong was driving the Fatty Bone overloaded, Paimon hit the iron wall in the cabin several times. He really didn't want Kong to continue to torment her.
"…There's a bracket at the back. Just tie yourself up. I really can't take care of you."
"That rack can't hold me! I can't even fasten my seatbelt!"
Paimon gestured and complained at the same time.
"Ha... there's no cure. Sit on my lap and I'll secure you with the outer safety belt."
"I don't want to hold you back, but your mecha is going too fast, and it keeps bumping around in the cabin..."
Grunting, Paimon sat on Sora's lap.
But she soon regretted it and even felt a little scared.
Of course, it wasn't because he had the intention of using her as a cup, but because she was facing Gustav's panoramic screen, and she felt a sudden sense of oppression, and cold sweat broke out all over her body.
Sora even used the right split screen to zoom in and out on Swarovski's head, every pore... every screw was clearly visible, as if Swarovski was leaning over to glare at her.
"Well, what a scary guy..."
"Pay attention to its energy source, heat source parameters, and electromagnetic reflection. The output of this guy's built-in power reactor is actually less than 10% of Gustav's."
"Eh?? Can a person as small as Swarovski fit so much energy?"
"Your chair is also a small car carrying a big gun now, right?"
Kong laughed and said, "Besides, how can you laugh at someone being a 'short guy'?"
"…Isn't this the confidence that the Mobile Suit gave me?"
"Okay, now that you've read the parameters and touched the joystick, you're already a qualified pilot. You can try to defeat Swarlow."
"Hey!!!"
Amid Paimon's dissatisfied shouts, Kongshou quietly tightened his grip on the putter.
Swarovski's electromagnetic reflection readings were frighteningly high, but his output was limited by the tonnage and armament of the machine itself, and he could not bring out the potential of his energy core at all.
He will definitely win this duel.
"Drip drip drip!"
Four lock warning sounds came from the front, and the moment Swarovski locked onto him, Kong also locked onto him. The dispersion of Minovsky particles caused a certain interference to the conventional radar illumination of both sides, but at this distance, it didn't matter whether there was a radar lock or not, and it was impossible to lose him.
A red beam rushed in from the end of the display, and the equally red warning line and continuous prompt sounds scared Paimon so much that he screamed.
But Sora's operation was quite effortless. He casually flicked the joystick on his right arm and blocked the beam with his shoulder shield.
After the light, Swarovski's figure immediately disappeared from the front, and the shield with anti-beam coating was hit with a melt mark. It seemed that the coating that was very effective against metal jets was not very effective under the burning of Swarovski's unknown attack mode.
But the shoulder shield was too thick - so thick that it was hopelessly thick. The force that was able to penetrate two mechas only left a crater-like wound on the shield with a diameter of less than one meter.
"Drip drip!"
The lock warning sound came from the upper left.
Is it there?!
As the stinging sensation came, Sora knew without even looking that Swarovski was trying to bypass the shoulder shield and attack his left arm.
This kind of self-righteous judgment is often made by underestimating the maneuverability of the machine. The more battlefield experience a guy has, the easier it is to fall into the trap.
He had thought that robots would be more rational, but now it seemed that his database was not so rich that it was unreasonable.
"Om-"
With half the force of the left leg nozzle, Gu Pang's body, which looked extremely solid at the upper and lower joints, used an incredible side-shifting propulsion posture to throw Swarovski, who had jumped up to attack, into the air.
“Guuuuh???”
The overload caused by this lateral movement almost knocked Paimeng unconscious on the spot - the propulsion of all the nozzles on the left side made a loud bang, and the strong wind could be felt even by the onlookers through the cover.
But Kong seemed to be very familiar with the pain of having one's internal organs thrown out and being crushed into a pancake, and he was even excited by it. He turned the fuselage in mid-air and punched Swarovski, who was falling and unable to adjust his posture, with the right auxiliary thruster.
Although it was not as outrageous as breaking the speed of sound in an instant, Gustav's right shoulder shield still formed a circle of white air distortion, as if it was wearing a layer of milky white feathers, like a god.
"state!!!"
The loud bang of metal hitting Jinsu was tooth-grinding, and Paimon, who was suddenly thrown from the left to the right, seemed to have been slammed back to the right side with a frying pan, and his internal organs even started to move back to the right side. The darkness came and went quickly, and one could only see in the dim light the shadow of Swarovski on the monitor, who was punched into the mountain by Gu Pang in a posture that was very consistent with his poor physique.
In order to perform this series of outrageous maneuvers, Sora had to take the risk of letting Gu Pang leave the narrow path and pull off the cliff in an arc. The thrusters under his feet were operated meticulously, even down to the fine-tuning of each nozzle. And he actually completed the whole process without the help of the automatic attitude adjustment system. When Paimon came to his senses, he found that his hands had left afterimages on the side stick.
As he adjusted the machine and pulled it diagonally back to the corridor of the pass, Swarovski appeared in the smoke and dust.
He was embedded into the bedrock by the punch, and his eyes flickered as if they had a short circuit. Although he was not crushed on the spot, he did not look like he could continue fighting.
"……ah??"
Both Paimon and Sanyue and others below were amazed at the victory and defeat that was decided in a split second.
Just, it's over? ?
"...Well, he underestimated Gustav's ability to adjust his posture. Did he think that heavy machines must be inflexible? I didn't use the auxiliary nozzle of this machine much when I drove the mecha soldiers just now. I didn't expect that he really fell into the trap."